


You and I

by TalentedLoser



Category: Fruits Basket
Genre: Drabble Collection, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-27
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2018-01-21 01:39:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1532954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TalentedLoser/pseuds/TalentedLoser
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Because, let's face it, he couldn't get her off his mind even if he tried.</p>
<p>Bunch of oneshots for the dragon and the rice ball.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Still Into You

**Author's Note:**

> There will be a bunch of oneshots coming for this pairing. They need more love.

_"I should be over all the butterflies,_   
_But I'm into you!"_

* * *

 

He was a grown man, he thought. He should not be nervous about a crush—a crush!—and should not act or feel like a hormonal teenager when he was near her.

He sighed, the cold air puffing out. He wasn’t sure why he was around Shigure’s place more, nor what drew him near it, but there he was, outside, listening to the small talk between those inside. The younger ones had recently graduated. But one voice stood out the most to him, and when she spoke, he had to close his eyes and relish in the sound.

The door behind him opened. When he turned, he started to feel the sweat on his palms. Seriously, he was a grown man.

She was smiling. “Hatori, dinner is ready when you’re ready to come in.”

And he smiled back. “Alright.”

Alright? God, he was even lamer than he realized. But she was still smiling, still looking up at him. Was she expecting something else? He was getting nervous again. He didn’t exactly know what to say, or what she wanted to talk about, but—

Then she turned toward the lawn. “Oh, look!” Her hand grabbed his sleeve. He looked down at her fingers. They were small, but he could feel the slight strength of them tugging toward her. He looked out toward the lawn.

Snow.

He turned back toward her. “I hope it doesn’t snow too much.”

He wanted to ask why, but instead he turned toward her, his free arm reaching toward her, and his hand resting on top of hers. She looked up at him. Her cheeks had drawn a faint red. His stomach was turning in every direction. His heart was racing, and he was sure his cheeks were a faint color as well. But she was still smiling, and slightly shivered. And the first thing that came to his mind was:

“Let’s get you inside before you develop a cold.”

He was a grown man.

And he still needed to make baby steps.

He sighed.


	2. Cliche

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A silly tradition sends him on a whirlwind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never uploaded this one. Whoops. Enjoy.

How cliché, he thought, standing in the bitter cold. 

\--

It had happened mere moments ago, without a stir from the crowd to witness the happening, but it occurred. He was at Shigure’s Christmas party, one he held every year before the New Year’s celebration at the main house. He had escaped from the loud noises (Ayame and Shigure) laughing about something absurd, and he needed a moment to himself. So he figured he would be safe outside, away from it all. It was a good plan, a well thought-out plan, to say the least. Well, until—

“Hatori?” 

He turned to a voice in the doorway. He didn’t mind that company, however. Who would, he thought? She was lovely in a red dress, complete with a little bow in her hair. 

“Tohru,” he whispered back, she closing the door. “You should not be outside dressed like that.”

She shook her head. “The same could be said to you!” Then she beamed a smile. And he smiled back.

The woman, now almost a year out of high school, was still helping out at the house. And nothing kept her down—nothing at all. He loved that about her. He loved a lot about her. She was carefree, honest, caring, kind, talented at cooking—he could make a long list. Would he actually tell her of his feelings? Maybe, maybe not. With a little push, who knew?

Then, she looked up. Her eyes went wide. He followed where she looked, and sighed. Coincidence, perhaps. He looked down and saw her getting more red by the second. “O-Oh! H-H-Hatori, u-um, I just wanted to check up on you, n-not…” and she started to drift away when he stepped closer to her. 

He looked at her, only for a slight intense moment. “It’s only mistletoe, Tohru.”

She made a small noise. He noticed her breathe in. Then, without warning, she closed her eyes and leaned toward him, tiptoe and all, kissing him on the lips. His eyes widened. He wanted to embrace her, his arms held out in surprise, but—but. Her lips were gone, her eyes were open, and she was beat red. “I-I-I must g-go! I-I’m…" she paused for a second, then: "cold!” She blurted out, rushing back inside.

\--

His fingers touched his lips. 

How cliché, he thought, smiling all the more.


	3. Blind Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> prompt: they go on a blind date. one wants to go on another date, but they don't know if their date wants to, too.

Tohru had no idea what to expect on a blind date organized by Shigure. Granted, she didn’t know what to expect when Shigure planned anything.

But she sat in front of a little coffee shop in the city, where Shigure told her to sit and look cute (and yes, he did say that to her— _“Tohru! He agreed to it! I wish I could see you two there, but unfortunately I have other plans. Well, I can just see it anyway, with you sitting in front of the coffee shop, looking cute…Ah, yes, go there, sit on the bench outside, and look cute! He’ll fall in love right away!”_ Somehow five minutes passed before she was even given the directions to the place). She watched as families, businessmen, teenagers, people of all ages walked by, possibly noting the nervous, fidgeting woman outside a small coffee shop. And if they did not notice, well, she noticed herself.

Tohru couldn’t help but bunch her dress in her hands, holding onto the fabric for support. What if the man didn’t like her? What if she didn’t like him? What if he never showed! Millions of scenarios ran through her head, each making her feel worse and worse. _Maybe I shouldn’t have agreed to this_ , she thought, as she felt her anxiety rise. It had been a while since she had been on a date (note: singular date), and it ended with her paying for the food and him telling her it was all for naught. It had been even longer since she had even heard from the Sohmas, remembering the last time she saw the men and women in her life. They never lost touch, but it was becoming a little harder to see them all.

She relaxed a little; she missed them. Sure, talking to them on the phone nearly every single day helped ( _thanks, Momiji!_ ). Still, she thought, it got to be a little lonely. _Maybe that’s why I agreed to this date_ , she wondered. Was it to get closer to Shigure, and be able to see them more often, if she became romantically involved with his friend? She sighed, and went back to playing with the folds of her dress.

Speaking of, she quickly patted the fabric down, panicking that it was wrinkled (and she had ironed it the night before too!). It was simply a pale blue dress, with little flowers along the bottom. It was long enough to cover her knees, and she thought it would be fine on a nice summery day. Besides, she thought, it was just in a coffee shop. She didn’t think she needed to dress up too much.

_But what if he did?_

Panic came roaring back.

She didn’t have to panic alone for too long; she heard a familiar voice. “Tohru?” She quickly turned her head to the sound of her name, and it was a few seconds before she recognized an old face from her past. Her eyes slightly widened, and she rose from the bench.

_“He’s a great guy, Tohru! He’s had a bad past, but haven’t we all? He’s such a nice guy, and will pay for your dinner or lunch if you go out on a date! Well, he doesn’t know I’m doing this, because he’s not really into dating anyone, maybe, but I think you two would be great! He’s got a pretty nice job, too, so if you are worried—oh, I know you’re not. And he’s not bad to look at. Try it!”_

She probably should have known. A friend of Shigure’s? That was a short list. _“Try it!”_ So she did.

“Hatori?”

oxo

Back at her apartment, she stared at the phone on the table. With years of life under her belt, she would’ve thought her anxiety would be manageable, and yet there she was, panicking once again.

“Ah!” She cried out. “What do I do!” She fell back into her couch— _flump_ —and sighed. Tohru stared up at the plain white ceiling. It had been hours since her date with _the_ Hatori Sohma— _you know, just the mysterious man who happened to be the doctor of all your friends and then became a friend of yours, and continued to keep in touch through messages because he said he cared after all these years._ The thought didn’t help, as she cried out again: “Aaaah!”

In her panic, she thought back to the date. There they were, in front of the coffee shop, ready to go on a blind date set up by their friend because they had been single for too long. And, of course, who should they run into? Someone they already know, _of course_. She remembered his casual outfit— _phew!_ —of a white buttoned down shirt, with brown slacks. He looked exactly as how she remembered him the last time she saw him (maybe a year ago?), with possibly shorter hair. He brushed his hair back with his hand and looked a little embarrassed.

“Shigure,” he mumbled. He was a little more red than before, but he would blame it on the sun beating down on him (meanwhile, he was thinking of all the ways to murder Shigure for exploiting his little crush on the young woman; he knew he should not have told the dog some months ago). He looked back to Tohru, in her pale blue dress, looking nervous and anxious as ever. She even had a bit of a shocked look on her face. He couldn’t blame her. But, he didn’t want to waste her time, or ruin the chance that he was given. “Well,” he started. She blinked at his words. “Shall we?”

And they did. She remembered the small table they found near a window, and how he pulled the chair out for her. She smiled a little at the thought; he really hadn’t changed much. He was still a gentleman. But, in the moment, she stumbled on her words. “O-Oh! T-Thank you!” _How embarrassing!_ She cringed at it all. Meanwhile, he had looked suave and smooth on the date, obviously used to dating and willing to play along with it all (well, except he was trying to keep it all together, and hoped it was working).

Then…it was nice. He started asking her how she had been (“Fine!”) and what she was doing (“Oh, well, I actually just joined this little club at work yesterday…”) and she did the same (“I am well, and I still am a doctor”). Between the sips of coffee and the small talk, it was relaxing. It was…It was surprisingly a good date. Tohru closed her eyes on the couch, remembering how Hatori smiled at her little quirks, laughed at a few work stories she shared that she wished no one knew about, and…and so much more. She nearly forgot how his voice sounded, and how handsome he was. _Seems like Shigure was right,_ she thought.

Her eyes slowly opened, looking back at the white ceiling. Tohru could feel her heart beating a little more, even beating more against her chest. It had been a little while since she had felt that happy, and…and she couldn’t help it. She had fun on the date! It was so nice to catch up with him, and it was even nicer to see him again. And when they parted at the end of the date (“Thank you for the coffee, Hatori! This was fun!” “…Yes, it was.”), she couldn’t help but look back one more time at the parting dragon. She didn’t even realize she had stolen one more glance at him, but she knew he would be on her mind all the way home (which he was).

She leaned herself forward. Her phone was still on the table, taunting her. The silence was killing her, and she had to moan. “Ah!” Her hands went to her head, her nails scratching at her scalp. “What do I do!” She was fighting with her mind and heart. When she was walking home to her apartment, she held her phone out. She already had his phone number in her phone, reminiscing on all the text messages they sent each other throughout the year—it was a lot. They did not talk about much—how their day was, what they were up to—but when they did talk, seriously or not, it let her know how much Hatori still meant to her, because even she could be bummed by a lack of a message some days. All of this ran into her head while she walked home, phone in hand.

And it continued while she sat on her couch, phone on the table. As she sat at the coffee shop, and while she walked home, she realized two things: first, Shigure owed her a little explanation the next time she talked to him; and second, she…actually wanted to go on another date with him. She would not lie: she had a little crush on him when she was in high school, and well into her adult days. Even when she saw the messages come up on her phone every day (or most days), it would be a while before he left her mind.

Scenarios popped into her head again. What if he said no? What would be the worst thing to happen? _Well he would be weirded out and never talk to me again_ , she cried. She determined that would really be the worst! _He could politely decline and we could be friends._ While still disappointing, she seemed okay at that. _He could act like it never happened._ She refused to think he would do such a thing. She even thought about if he did accept her invitation to another date. _We would go on a few dates, and he would lose interest. Oh, already breaking up without being together!_ She groaned and let her head slump into her hands.

Peeking through her fingers, Tohru sighed. She reached forward for the phone.

_Okay!_

oxo

There was a few rings, then a click. _“Hello?”_

She didn’t expect him to answer. Why couldn’t he have been busy? _“H-Hi Hatori! It’s Tohru!”_ Smooth, she thought.

He hummed. _“Oh, good evening. Did you make it back okay?”_ Hatori, meanwhile, felt _that_ was so smooth. He shook his head at the question.

She nodded. _“Uh huh!”_

He smiled. _“Well, that is good.”_

_“U-Uh, yes!”_ She had no idea how to answer, and then there was a silence that seemed to pound into her ears for the longest time (it was roughly twenty seconds long). She could feel herself sweating and her heart was racing. It was stressful, to say the least. Then, she heard him sigh, followed by his voice:

_“Listen, Tohru…”_ His voice drifted off. It sounded disappointed. She quickly jumped in.

_“A-Actually, Hatori, I, um…”_ The words were right on her tongue. _Just say them!_ She closed her eyes and leaned back into her couch. She was afraid, to say the least.

_“Yes?”_

A slight pause, then: _“Well, I was…I…”_ She couldn’t do it. She was too afraid of his rejection. Tohru didn’t want to feel disappointed about it and ruin such a good day. What if he didn’t feel the same?

She heard him move on the other line, scratching the receiver. _“Can I actually ask you something?”_

She sat up straight. She definitely did not expect him to ask something. _“Uh, sure! What is it?”0_

Hatori fidgeted with the pen on his desk. He was that old, and he couldn’t talk to a younger woman about his feelings. He really wondered how he even had the chance to go on a date with Tohru. He was so nervous when he asked: _“Did you have a good time today?”_

She smiled. This, she thought, she could answer. _“Yes! I loved it! It was so nice to see you again, and I—”_

He quickly interrupted. _“I feel the same.”_ He didn’t mean to cut her off, but something inside of him was excited she had a good time.

She felt her face heat up. Her heart thumped. _“R-Really?”_

_“Yes.”_ He meant it. _“Yes I did.”_

Tohru relaxed, letting her fingertips linger on her lips. _“O-Oh.”_ She felt extremely happy—it meant nothing! _He probably means he had a good time and that’s all! Don’t get your hopes up!_

Hatori became restless in his chair, but continued to sit as he got what he wanted to ask out: _“I-If you had a good time, would you care to join me again in a few days? We could try a new restaurant a few blocks away from the coffee shop, for dinner.”_

Tohru felt everything stop. Her eyes widened. Did…did she hear that right? _“Dinner?”_

It was Hatori’s turn to panic. _“Yes, dinner, uh, if you would like to go out with me again.”_ His heart was racing, and his worst scenarios started to play out. What if she just had fun today? What if she thought it was a friendly time together? What if—

He heard Tohru (as he thought all of that in a span of ten seconds, she could feel her smile grow, her body getting excited about it all—another date! He actually wanted to go out again!). What he heard let him relax, with his smile growing and his body getting giddy over the thought of it all.

_“Yes!”_

oxo

Dinner went well.

And the dinner after that.

And the lunch after that.

And the—

Shigure smiled at the messages he received from his friends as they continued to date. One was excited and thankful, and the other, well, he might have to make it up to that one in some way. But he just chuckled at the few pictures he saw of the two, months down the line, still meeting at the coffee shop sometimes to enjoy the time together. And Shigure knew they would continue to for years to come. And he also knew he wouldn’t have to make it up to him. He was just showing Shigure his thanks in his own little way.

_You’re welcome, Hatori._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rough drabble, probably loads of mistakes. But, I saw this prompt, and thought, why not. It's been a while with these two. 
> 
> Enjoy.


End file.
